Killer of gay man may get undeserved early parole
Sean Kennedy's killer may go free earlier than expected.
For those who are not aware, the following are the facts:
Sean William Kennedy, 20, was attacked in the early morning of May 17, 2007 outside the former Brew's Bar in Greenville, South Carolina. His assailant, Stephen Andrew Moller, pulled up in a car, threw one punch after reportedly yelling anti-gay slurs, and fled. Kennedy died about 17 hours later from the brain injury he sustained, and friends and family believe he was targeted at least in part due to his sexual orientation.
Since South Carolina has no hate crime statute, no enhancement was available for Moller's June 2008 sentence of five years in prison on a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter. The judge reduced the sentence to three years with credit for seven months' time served and ordered Moller to seek help to manage anger and substance abuse.
There is a now a strong possibility that Moller could get out on parole as early as next month.
Moller should have gotten more time for this senseless crime but as it was, he received a lucky break.
He does not deserve another one. As someone who has lost a loved one due to senseless violence (my father), I know what it's like to have that constant spot of emptiness in your heart when pondering the unfairness of a life snatched away through the selfish acts of another.
It's not vengeance but justice for Moller to serve his full time.
Since Sean's death, his mother Elke has been a huge advocate for the lgbt community as well as an outspoken proponent for hate crime laws. She is the founder of Sean's Last Wish, a group devoted to stopping the violence against lgbt youth.
She is urging that people write the parole board asking that they not give Moller an early release:
Letters can be sent to:
Department of Probation Pardon and Parole Services
2221 Devine Street, Suite 600
PO Box 50666
Columbia SC 29250
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Monday, January 05, 2009
Just who is bashing who, Christian Anti-Defamation Commission?
From the Christian Newswire comes a press release from the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission on what they think are the top instances of "Christian Bashing" in 2008.
My first thought is it's amazing how religious right groups come up with some new organization with an official sounding name.
My second, after reading the list, is they have got to be kidding. Their definition of bashing has less to do with discrimination and more to do with people questioning their definition of Christianity:
INSTANCE #6: Religulous the Movie
Bill Maher released a very shallow, pseudo-intellectual documentary entitled Religulous. The movie did not cover any new intellectual ground. It simply raised the old attacks on the faith. Maher studiously avoided being fair and did not allow for legitimate Christian answers from any leading Christian intellectuals.
or some sports anchor letting loose with a stream of profanities (the example they list here is vulgar but could someone explain to me how this is "bashing"):
INSTANCE #8: ESPN Anchor Dana Jacobson's "F--- Jesus" Remark
Speaking at an ESPN corporate event in Atlantic City, N.J., to honor ESPN Radio personalities Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic, Dana Jacobson let go with a steam of vulgar remarks; "F--- Notre Dame," "F--- Touchdown Jesus" and finally "F--- Jesus." Jacobson was suspended for a few days for the incident.
or someone daring to tell them that in an pluralistic society, they have to respect the fact that the Christian faith does not take always precedent:
INSTANCE #5: Chaplains Fired for Praying in Jesus' Name
Chaplains for the State of Virginia are being denied their right to pray in Jesus' name. Six chaplains were fired for continuing to pray in Jesus' name. Earlier this year in Virginia, Rev. Hashmel Turner, a city councilman in Fredericksburg, was told by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that his prayers during city council meetings that ended in Jesus' name will continue to be banned.
or lies:
INSTANCE #4: Colorado Law Criminalizes the Bible
SB200, a Colorado state bill recently signed into law, criminalizes the Bible. Section 8 of the bill entitled "Publishing of discriminative matter forbidden" makes publishing the Bible illegal because it contains anti-homosexual passages. This is part of a larger effort to criminalize the expression of certain opinions and beliefs.
The law mentioned here has nothing to do with the Bible except in the mind of someone with a wild imagination who likes to play games with hypothetics.
INSTANCE #2: Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin Is Attacked
Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin, came under sharp attack by some in the mainstream media because she self-identifies as a Christian.
Palin was not attacked for being a Christian. Her lack of readiness for the vice-presidential position was her downfall, pure and simple. Also her eagerness to use inaccuracies to attack Obama - "palling around with terrorists" and how it led her to being such a polarizing figure had a lot to do with her lack of a positive image.
And this next one is a doozy:
INSTANCE #3: Barack Obama Defames Christianity
According to research into President Elect Obama's own statements about faith, and an examination of Obama's position on moral issues, CADC has determined that by any biblical and historic Christian standard, Barack Obama is not a Christian, although he claims he is a "devout Christian."
So this organization is "bashing" a Christian while complaining about "Christian bashing."
My head is spinning.
It is apparent that the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission is a phony organization not designed to protect the rights of Christians but created to be another cog in the religious right machine of entitlements.
From the Christian Newswire comes a press release from the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission on what they think are the top instances of "Christian Bashing" in 2008.
My first thought is it's amazing how religious right groups come up with some new organization with an official sounding name.
My second, after reading the list, is they have got to be kidding. Their definition of bashing has less to do with discrimination and more to do with people questioning their definition of Christianity:
INSTANCE #6: Religulous the Movie
Bill Maher released a very shallow, pseudo-intellectual documentary entitled Religulous. The movie did not cover any new intellectual ground. It simply raised the old attacks on the faith. Maher studiously avoided being fair and did not allow for legitimate Christian answers from any leading Christian intellectuals.
or some sports anchor letting loose with a stream of profanities (the example they list here is vulgar but could someone explain to me how this is "bashing"):
INSTANCE #8: ESPN Anchor Dana Jacobson's "F--- Jesus" Remark
Speaking at an ESPN corporate event in Atlantic City, N.J., to honor ESPN Radio personalities Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic, Dana Jacobson let go with a steam of vulgar remarks; "F--- Notre Dame," "F--- Touchdown Jesus" and finally "F--- Jesus." Jacobson was suspended for a few days for the incident.
or someone daring to tell them that in an pluralistic society, they have to respect the fact that the Christian faith does not take always precedent:
INSTANCE #5: Chaplains Fired for Praying in Jesus' Name
Chaplains for the State of Virginia are being denied their right to pray in Jesus' name. Six chaplains were fired for continuing to pray in Jesus' name. Earlier this year in Virginia, Rev. Hashmel Turner, a city councilman in Fredericksburg, was told by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that his prayers during city council meetings that ended in Jesus' name will continue to be banned.
or lies:
INSTANCE #4: Colorado Law Criminalizes the Bible
SB200, a Colorado state bill recently signed into law, criminalizes the Bible. Section 8 of the bill entitled "Publishing of discriminative matter forbidden" makes publishing the Bible illegal because it contains anti-homosexual passages. This is part of a larger effort to criminalize the expression of certain opinions and beliefs.
The law mentioned here has nothing to do with the Bible except in the mind of someone with a wild imagination who likes to play games with hypothetics.
INSTANCE #2: Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin Is Attacked
Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin, came under sharp attack by some in the mainstream media because she self-identifies as a Christian.
Palin was not attacked for being a Christian. Her lack of readiness for the vice-presidential position was her downfall, pure and simple. Also her eagerness to use inaccuracies to attack Obama - "palling around with terrorists" and how it led her to being such a polarizing figure had a lot to do with her lack of a positive image.
And this next one is a doozy:
INSTANCE #3: Barack Obama Defames Christianity
According to research into President Elect Obama's own statements about faith, and an examination of Obama's position on moral issues, CADC has determined that by any biblical and historic Christian standard, Barack Obama is not a Christian, although he claims he is a "devout Christian."
So this organization is "bashing" a Christian while complaining about "Christian bashing."
My head is spinning.
It is apparent that the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission is a phony organization not designed to protect the rights of Christians but created to be another cog in the religious right machine of entitlements.
Short post seeking your help - no I am not asking for money
Hey guys,
As you know, my other blog - Anti-Gay Lies and Liars, goes into more detail about the religious right by talking about their tactics and showing a time line of their distortions against the lgbt community.
I am in the process of redoing that site so I need feedback.
What do you think of it? Are there things that should be added or eliminated?
Are there controversies that I omitted from the time line? Are there future controversies that should be added for 2009?
Please send any and all comments via Charlekenghis@aol.com
Hey guys,
As you know, my other blog - Anti-Gay Lies and Liars, goes into more detail about the religious right by talking about their tactics and showing a time line of their distortions against the lgbt community.
I am in the process of redoing that site so I need feedback.
What do you think of it? Are there things that should be added or eliminated?
Are there controversies that I omitted from the time line? Are there future controversies that should be added for 2009?
Please send any and all comments via Charlekenghis@aol.com
Friday, January 02, 2009
Religious right groups call for mass exodus from public schools . . . again
Geez, it doesn't even shock me anymore:
Critics of America's public school system have launched a new effort highlighting the need for Christians to exit the system.
The initiative -- dubbed The Call to Dunkirk -- was launched by Dr. Bruce Shortt, author of The Harsh Truth About Public Schools; Rev. Voddie Baucham, author of Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God; and the founder and director of the Exodus Mandate Project, retired U.S. Army Chaplain Lt. Col. E. Ray Moore.
Moore explains the proposal. "The Call to Dunkirk is a special emergency effort to try to get other ministries, churches, pastors, and the major Christian right and pro-family movement to join with us and the other K-12 home-school ministries in rescuing the children from the public schools during the year 2009," he says.
New effort my pinkie toe. It's an old effort and a tired one at that.
In 2005, Baucham and Shortt pushed for the same type of resolution via the Southern Baptist Convention:
A popular black evangelist is hoping that the proposed resolution on homosexuality in public schools that he has helped to put before the Resolutions Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention will spark a mass exodus of Baptist children from public schools.
The resolution, submitted by attorney and author Bruce Shortt and Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr., calls on Southern Baptist churches to investigate whether their local school district has a "gay-straight alliance" or other homosexual clubs. The resolution also calls upon churches to encourage parents' removal of their children from schools that have curricula or programs that treat homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle.
Personally, I say if parents don't agree with public schools, they should have every option to homeschool their children. I have friends who do this already.
However, I don't agree with any homeschool initiatives taking money from the public schools and I certainly don't agree with making lgbts the boogiemen (i.e. the reason why children should be taken out of public schools.)
And making us the objects of fear is definitely the reasoning behind this so-called new initiative:
Although Christians have fought other aspects of the culture war such as homosexual "marriage," (Ray) Moore contends they are losing the fight when it comes to the education of their children.
"The real target of the liberals and the left has always been the children. And we can see in California where the conservatives won Proposition 8 -- the vote [was] 52 to 48 [percent] -- but...when Proposition 22 was voted on [in March 2000], they had a 61-percent margin of victory. So the culture is turning against Christianity and against the pro-family movement primarily because we've allowed our children to be educated in their schools," he adds. "They're converting our children; we're not converting them."
Ridiculous. No one is converting America's children.
LGBTs and liberals in general are not sitting in dark rooms taking instructions from a mysterious leader stroking a Persian cat while he periodically presses a button and drops one of us down to a pirahna tank.
If the religious right is truly losing the next generation, then they need to blame themselves and assess their bullshit.
You cannot call yourself pro-family if you are actively working against families simply because they don't fit your idea of the word. And you cannot call yourself Christian if you rely on lies and generalizations to get your point across.
What is happening here is like the ending of the classic fairty tale, the Emperor's New Clothes: Adults are distorting, lying, and obfusticating, but a child's simplicity getting to the heart of the matter.
In this particular case, the heart of the matter is that there is nothing wrong with being a gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender person.
Viva la progress!
Geez, it doesn't even shock me anymore:
Critics of America's public school system have launched a new effort highlighting the need for Christians to exit the system.
The initiative -- dubbed The Call to Dunkirk -- was launched by Dr. Bruce Shortt, author of The Harsh Truth About Public Schools; Rev. Voddie Baucham, author of Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God; and the founder and director of the Exodus Mandate Project, retired U.S. Army Chaplain Lt. Col. E. Ray Moore.
Moore explains the proposal. "The Call to Dunkirk is a special emergency effort to try to get other ministries, churches, pastors, and the major Christian right and pro-family movement to join with us and the other K-12 home-school ministries in rescuing the children from the public schools during the year 2009," he says.
New effort my pinkie toe. It's an old effort and a tired one at that.
In 2005, Baucham and Shortt pushed for the same type of resolution via the Southern Baptist Convention:
A popular black evangelist is hoping that the proposed resolution on homosexuality in public schools that he has helped to put before the Resolutions Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention will spark a mass exodus of Baptist children from public schools.
The resolution, submitted by attorney and author Bruce Shortt and Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr., calls on Southern Baptist churches to investigate whether their local school district has a "gay-straight alliance" or other homosexual clubs. The resolution also calls upon churches to encourage parents' removal of their children from schools that have curricula or programs that treat homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle.
Personally, I say if parents don't agree with public schools, they should have every option to homeschool their children. I have friends who do this already.
However, I don't agree with any homeschool initiatives taking money from the public schools and I certainly don't agree with making lgbts the boogiemen (i.e. the reason why children should be taken out of public schools.)
And making us the objects of fear is definitely the reasoning behind this so-called new initiative:
Although Christians have fought other aspects of the culture war such as homosexual "marriage," (Ray) Moore contends they are losing the fight when it comes to the education of their children.
"The real target of the liberals and the left has always been the children. And we can see in California where the conservatives won Proposition 8 -- the vote [was] 52 to 48 [percent] -- but...when Proposition 22 was voted on [in March 2000], they had a 61-percent margin of victory. So the culture is turning against Christianity and against the pro-family movement primarily because we've allowed our children to be educated in their schools," he adds. "They're converting our children; we're not converting them."
Ridiculous. No one is converting America's children.
LGBTs and liberals in general are not sitting in dark rooms taking instructions from a mysterious leader stroking a Persian cat while he periodically presses a button and drops one of us down to a pirahna tank.
If the religious right is truly losing the next generation, then they need to blame themselves and assess their bullshit.
You cannot call yourself pro-family if you are actively working against families simply because they don't fit your idea of the word. And you cannot call yourself Christian if you rely on lies and generalizations to get your point across.
What is happening here is like the ending of the classic fairty tale, the Emperor's New Clothes: Adults are distorting, lying, and obfusticating, but a child's simplicity getting to the heart of the matter.
In this particular case, the heart of the matter is that there is nothing wrong with being a gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender person.
Viva la progress!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Happy New Year !!! . . . and other stuff
2008 is almost over. I plan to spend the time counting down in the solitude of my home in hopeful peace and quiet.
I haven't been in the party mood for years; although I do remember a wild New Year's Eve party ten years ago when I attended Winthrop University.
Shut your dirty mind because it wasn't that type of party. The most you can do when you are the only gay in a heterosexual fraternity is get drunk, dance badly and pass out on the floor.
Which is what I did. Glad to say that I wasn't alone. We all passed out on the floor eventually.
Ten years later, I face 2009 with more of a clear head and optimism.
Incredibly this year, this country elected our first African-American president. Yeah I know - the Rick Warren thing.
But that aside for a second, it's still a remarkable acheivement that I thought I would never see.
And despite the Warren thing, I remain hopeful that an Obama Administration will be good for lgbts. Bear in mind I did not say good to lgbts.
I said good for lgbts in that we get a lot done.
So Rick Warren aside, let's work on getting our goals met rather than how far we can throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Enough preaching cause I know some of you probably don't like what I just said.
The following links are a reminder of just who our real enemy is:
Study: Family behavior key to health of gay youth - This study repeats the same thing many studies say about lgbts and behavior. It is how our families and society treats us that can lead to positive or negative behavior. How long will it be before the religious right distorts this study like the others?
Advocates fear attack on gay adoption by Louisiana lawmaker - The very idea that Lousiana Governor Bobby Jindal puts Family Research Council head Tony Perkins on a committee that could look at gay adoption and families just proves that he has no place NEAR the White House. You will remember that the FRC is the organization that once housed those Paul Cameronesque studies about gays and pedophilia.
Lesbian couple wins suit against Methodist camp - One News Now starts early work for a 2009 Misinformer Award. The article omits the part of the story about the tax breaks. Unbelievably, those posting comments didn't let One News Now forget.
Well that's it. Maybe Mr. "I want you, I need you, I gotta have you now" will show up at my door tonight.
Either way, Happy New Year and above all, be safe ;p.
2008 is almost over. I plan to spend the time counting down in the solitude of my home in hopeful peace and quiet.
I haven't been in the party mood for years; although I do remember a wild New Year's Eve party ten years ago when I attended Winthrop University.
Shut your dirty mind because it wasn't that type of party. The most you can do when you are the only gay in a heterosexual fraternity is get drunk, dance badly and pass out on the floor.
Which is what I did. Glad to say that I wasn't alone. We all passed out on the floor eventually.
Ten years later, I face 2009 with more of a clear head and optimism.
Incredibly this year, this country elected our first African-American president. Yeah I know - the Rick Warren thing.
But that aside for a second, it's still a remarkable acheivement that I thought I would never see.
And despite the Warren thing, I remain hopeful that an Obama Administration will be good for lgbts. Bear in mind I did not say good to lgbts.
I said good for lgbts in that we get a lot done.
So Rick Warren aside, let's work on getting our goals met rather than how far we can throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Enough preaching cause I know some of you probably don't like what I just said.
The following links are a reminder of just who our real enemy is:
Study: Family behavior key to health of gay youth - This study repeats the same thing many studies say about lgbts and behavior. It is how our families and society treats us that can lead to positive or negative behavior. How long will it be before the religious right distorts this study like the others?
Advocates fear attack on gay adoption by Louisiana lawmaker - The very idea that Lousiana Governor Bobby Jindal puts Family Research Council head Tony Perkins on a committee that could look at gay adoption and families just proves that he has no place NEAR the White House. You will remember that the FRC is the organization that once housed those Paul Cameronesque studies about gays and pedophilia.
Lesbian couple wins suit against Methodist camp - One News Now starts early work for a 2009 Misinformer Award. The article omits the part of the story about the tax breaks. Unbelievably, those posting comments didn't let One News Now forget.
Well that's it. Maybe Mr. "I want you, I need you, I gotta have you now" will show up at my door tonight.
Either way, Happy New Year and above all, be safe ;p.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
2008 in religious right lies Part 2
Ye shall know them by their fruits - Matthew 7:16
The lies continue and they are doozies!
Janelle Hallman, a researcher from NARTH (National Association for the Research and Treatment of Homosexuality), an organization pushing discredited ex-gay therapy, cites Paul Cameron in her book, The Heart of Female Same-Sex Attraction: A Comprehensive Counseling Resource.
Lifesite News, a Roman Catholic "news" site, refers to a discredited Paul Cameron study that he falsely claimed to have presented to the Eastern Psychological Association in 2007 .
Discredited researcher Paul Cameron tours Russia where his history of distortions is virtually unknown. He speaks at Moscow State University and repeats much of his discredited work, including lie about gays and child molestation.
Insure.com, a publicly traded insurance company, continues to cite work from discredited researcher Paul Cameron even after it is alerted on his many censures and breaches of professional ethics.
In a brochure, The Slippery Slope of Same Sex Marriage, the Family Research Council cites the 2001 Dutch study by Maria Xiridou despite the fact that the study had nothing to do with same sex marriage.
In an article published in the American Family Association's One News Now, ex-gay organization PFOX claims that a "recent study" says that "the increased risk of suicide that is linked with young people who identify themselves as homosexuals before achieving full maturity -- a process encouraged by many homosexual high school clubs." The study in question, Risk Factors for Attempted Suicide in Gay and Bisexual Youth by Remafedi, Farrow, and Deisher, is not recent because it was published in 1991.
Gary Remafedi, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota and one of the authors of the study mentioned by PFOX (see above entry), claims the "ex-gay" organization distorted his research findings.
The Palm Center announces that a Duke University law review will be publishing a critique of a 2007 article by Elaine Donnelly. Donnelly is the president of the Center for Military Readiness, a traditional values interest group with no military or academic affiliation. According to Palm Center Director Aaron Belkin, Donelly's article is riddled with mistakes and misreadings of both Palm Center work and the "don't ask, don't tell" law and policy that governs gay service.
Elaine Donnelly testifies in front of a Congressional committee looking at the Don't Ask, Don't Tell law that deals with gays in the military. Her testimony, rife with fear stories of transgenders in the military, lesbians taking pictures of women in the shower, and gay men with AIDS, does nothing to help her argument in the eyes of the Congressional committee.
Robert Knight, of the right-wing Media Research Center, attempts to spin Donnelly's failed testimony as that of a "valiant woman facing an ultra liberal committee."
"Ex-gay" Greg Quinlan inaccurately claims that the director of the Human Genome Project, Dr. Francis Collins, said that homosexuality is not hardwired. Dr. Francis had gone on record in 2007 declaring that he never made this statement. When confronted with his inaccuracy by the webpage ExGayWatch, Quinlan accuses ExGayWatch of making up Dr. Collins's rebuke.
Dr. Collins confirms that he did complain about the inaccuracy of the "hardwired" quote.
The Maryland anti-gay industry group pushing the referendum against the anti-discrimination law protecting transgendered citizens is dealt a death blow when a court decision stops their efforts. The law goes into effect immediately afterwards. One News Now, however, inaccurately claims that the anti-gay industry group gained 900,00 valid signatures. They are off by a huge amount. The group only received 26, 813 valid signatures.
Professor Michael King of University College in the United Kingdom accuses the Catholic website LifeSite News and One News Now of distorting his work on the rate of depression and suicide in the gay community.
While misrepresenting Dr. King's work, One News Now adds to the distortion by citing the work of the discredited Paul Cameron.
Lisa Diamond, University of Utah professor, accuses anti-gay group NARTH of grossly and deliberately distorting her work on sexual orientation.
In a successful attempt to pass Proposition 8, a law that would outlaw gay marriage in California, the religious right group 'Yes on 8' spreads the following stories - not passing Proposition 8 will lead to pastors being arrested for not performing gay marriage and children will be forced to learn about homosexuality. On that last point, the group gets an assist from David Parker who films an interview with Family Research Council head Tony Perkins. Parker exaggerates his tale of being arresting including claiming that his son brought home a book about homosexuality. The book in question was about differing families and only one family featured in the book was of a same sex nature.
Members of the religious right make the claim that the gay community is conducting an organized campaign of violence and intimidation against the voters of Proposition 8. To prove this, they cite an incident of a 69-year-old woman who has a styrofoam cross ripped out of her hand during a silent vigil protesting Proposition 8. They omit the fact that the woman, Phyllis Burgess, pushed her way through the crowd of protestors to be on camera even at the point of allegedly knocking down a disabled man.
An uncoordinated wildcat gay rights group in Michigan, Bash Back, invade a local church where they allegedly pull a fire alarm, make out at the pulpit, and shout blasphemies in front of children. However, area police say the church exaggerated some details of the story. Also some religious right groups incorrectly link the group Bash Back with the Proposition 8 protests, which have been peaceful.
Mike Heath, head of the Main Family Policy Council, accuses the gay community of "hate crimes against Christians" because of the Proposition 8 vote, including a bomb sent to a missionary in Vancouver, British Columbia. This is a blatant lie because the incident and the organization the missionary was involved in had nothing to do with gays, Proposition 8, California, the Mormon church, etc.
Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Cindy Lederman declares that Florida's ban on gay adoption is unconstitutional. She especially criticizes the testimony of George A. Rekers, an expert that the state called on to testify about its ban. Lederman says Dr. Rekers’ beliefs are motivated by his strong ideological and theological convictions that are not consistent with the science. Based on his testimony and demeanor at trial, the court can not consider his testimony to be credible nor worthy of forming the basis of public policy. This is the same conclusion that a judge in Arkansas reached regarding Rekers' testimony regarding that state's adoption ban in 2005. During his Florida testimony, Rekers repeated Paul Cameronesque lies about the gay community and even said he would consider banning Native Americans from adopting children for the same reasons he would consider banning gays.
President-Elect Barack Obama faces a firestorm of criticism from the lgbt community due to his selection of prominent pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration. Warren faces criticism due to his support of Proposition 8 in California and his comparing lgbt relationships to incest and pedophilia. In an address on his church’s website, Warren accuses his critics of “Christophobia” and claims that he never compared lgbt relationships to incest and pedophilia. However, an interview on Beliefnet.com clearly shows that Warren did compare lgbt relationships to incest and pedophilia.
The American Family Association complains that Campbell Soup is lending support to the alleged “homosexual agenda” because the company ran an ad in two issues of the lgbt-oriented Advocate magazine. The AFA is especially critical of the ad content because it features two lesbians and their son. This complaint comes at the same time the AFA’s newsite, One News Now, are calling lgbts “intolerant” for their anger over Rick Warren.
I am highly optimistic about 2009. The lgbt community are becoming more aware and highly skilled in exposing religious right distortions.
Consistency is the key to our victory. As long as they tell lies, we need to be there to tell the truth.
Ye shall know them by their fruits - Matthew 7:16
The lies continue and they are doozies!
Janelle Hallman, a researcher from NARTH (National Association for the Research and Treatment of Homosexuality), an organization pushing discredited ex-gay therapy, cites Paul Cameron in her book, The Heart of Female Same-Sex Attraction: A Comprehensive Counseling Resource.
Lifesite News, a Roman Catholic "news" site, refers to a discredited Paul Cameron study that he falsely claimed to have presented to the Eastern Psychological Association in 2007 .
Discredited researcher Paul Cameron tours Russia where his history of distortions is virtually unknown. He speaks at Moscow State University and repeats much of his discredited work, including lie about gays and child molestation.
Insure.com, a publicly traded insurance company, continues to cite work from discredited researcher Paul Cameron even after it is alerted on his many censures and breaches of professional ethics.
In a brochure, The Slippery Slope of Same Sex Marriage, the Family Research Council cites the 2001 Dutch study by Maria Xiridou despite the fact that the study had nothing to do with same sex marriage.
In an article published in the American Family Association's One News Now, ex-gay organization PFOX claims that a "recent study" says that "the increased risk of suicide that is linked with young people who identify themselves as homosexuals before achieving full maturity -- a process encouraged by many homosexual high school clubs." The study in question, Risk Factors for Attempted Suicide in Gay and Bisexual Youth by Remafedi, Farrow, and Deisher, is not recent because it was published in 1991.
Gary Remafedi, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota and one of the authors of the study mentioned by PFOX (see above entry), claims the "ex-gay" organization distorted his research findings.
The Palm Center announces that a Duke University law review will be publishing a critique of a 2007 article by Elaine Donnelly. Donnelly is the president of the Center for Military Readiness, a traditional values interest group with no military or academic affiliation. According to Palm Center Director Aaron Belkin, Donelly's article is riddled with mistakes and misreadings of both Palm Center work and the "don't ask, don't tell" law and policy that governs gay service.
Elaine Donnelly testifies in front of a Congressional committee looking at the Don't Ask, Don't Tell law that deals with gays in the military. Her testimony, rife with fear stories of transgenders in the military, lesbians taking pictures of women in the shower, and gay men with AIDS, does nothing to help her argument in the eyes of the Congressional committee.
Robert Knight, of the right-wing Media Research Center, attempts to spin Donnelly's failed testimony as that of a "valiant woman facing an ultra liberal committee."
"Ex-gay" Greg Quinlan inaccurately claims that the director of the Human Genome Project, Dr. Francis Collins, said that homosexuality is not hardwired. Dr. Francis had gone on record in 2007 declaring that he never made this statement. When confronted with his inaccuracy by the webpage ExGayWatch, Quinlan accuses ExGayWatch of making up Dr. Collins's rebuke.
Dr. Collins confirms that he did complain about the inaccuracy of the "hardwired" quote.
The Maryland anti-gay industry group pushing the referendum against the anti-discrimination law protecting transgendered citizens is dealt a death blow when a court decision stops their efforts. The law goes into effect immediately afterwards. One News Now, however, inaccurately claims that the anti-gay industry group gained 900,00 valid signatures. They are off by a huge amount. The group only received 26, 813 valid signatures.
Professor Michael King of University College in the United Kingdom accuses the Catholic website LifeSite News and One News Now of distorting his work on the rate of depression and suicide in the gay community.
While misrepresenting Dr. King's work, One News Now adds to the distortion by citing the work of the discredited Paul Cameron.
Lisa Diamond, University of Utah professor, accuses anti-gay group NARTH of grossly and deliberately distorting her work on sexual orientation.
In a successful attempt to pass Proposition 8, a law that would outlaw gay marriage in California, the religious right group 'Yes on 8' spreads the following stories - not passing Proposition 8 will lead to pastors being arrested for not performing gay marriage and children will be forced to learn about homosexuality. On that last point, the group gets an assist from David Parker who films an interview with Family Research Council head Tony Perkins. Parker exaggerates his tale of being arresting including claiming that his son brought home a book about homosexuality. The book in question was about differing families and only one family featured in the book was of a same sex nature.
Members of the religious right make the claim that the gay community is conducting an organized campaign of violence and intimidation against the voters of Proposition 8. To prove this, they cite an incident of a 69-year-old woman who has a styrofoam cross ripped out of her hand during a silent vigil protesting Proposition 8. They omit the fact that the woman, Phyllis Burgess, pushed her way through the crowd of protestors to be on camera even at the point of allegedly knocking down a disabled man.
An uncoordinated wildcat gay rights group in Michigan, Bash Back, invade a local church where they allegedly pull a fire alarm, make out at the pulpit, and shout blasphemies in front of children. However, area police say the church exaggerated some details of the story. Also some religious right groups incorrectly link the group Bash Back with the Proposition 8 protests, which have been peaceful.
Mike Heath, head of the Main Family Policy Council, accuses the gay community of "hate crimes against Christians" because of the Proposition 8 vote, including a bomb sent to a missionary in Vancouver, British Columbia. This is a blatant lie because the incident and the organization the missionary was involved in had nothing to do with gays, Proposition 8, California, the Mormon church, etc.
Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Cindy Lederman declares that Florida's ban on gay adoption is unconstitutional. She especially criticizes the testimony of George A. Rekers, an expert that the state called on to testify about its ban. Lederman says Dr. Rekers’ beliefs are motivated by his strong ideological and theological convictions that are not consistent with the science. Based on his testimony and demeanor at trial, the court can not consider his testimony to be credible nor worthy of forming the basis of public policy. This is the same conclusion that a judge in Arkansas reached regarding Rekers' testimony regarding that state's adoption ban in 2005. During his Florida testimony, Rekers repeated Paul Cameronesque lies about the gay community and even said he would consider banning Native Americans from adopting children for the same reasons he would consider banning gays.
President-Elect Barack Obama faces a firestorm of criticism from the lgbt community due to his selection of prominent pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration. Warren faces criticism due to his support of Proposition 8 in California and his comparing lgbt relationships to incest and pedophilia. In an address on his church’s website, Warren accuses his critics of “Christophobia” and claims that he never compared lgbt relationships to incest and pedophilia. However, an interview on Beliefnet.com clearly shows that Warren did compare lgbt relationships to incest and pedophilia.
The American Family Association complains that Campbell Soup is lending support to the alleged “homosexual agenda” because the company ran an ad in two issues of the lgbt-oriented Advocate magazine. The AFA is especially critical of the ad content because it features two lesbians and their son. This complaint comes at the same time the AFA’s newsite, One News Now, are calling lgbts “intolerant” for their anger over Rick Warren.
I am highly optimistic about 2009. The lgbt community are becoming more aware and highly skilled in exposing religious right distortions.
Consistency is the key to our victory. As long as they tell lies, we need to be there to tell the truth.
Liberty Counsel throws out another bad spin
Like clockwork, the religious right is telling lies about the yesterday's decision in New Jersey regarding the church owned pavilion and the lesbian couple who sued for access to it for their wedding.
Even before yesterday's decision, the religious right distorted the case to make it seem that lgbts are forcing Christians to "accept" gay marriage.
However the church lost the case because it was accepting tax breaks for the pavilion and a proviso for these tax breaks said that the pavilion to all with no exceptions
But of course Matt Staver and the Liberty Counsel spins the case to make it seem that lgbts are attempting to harm Christians:
“The clash between same-sex unions and religious freedom has arrived, and that clash will increase. We’ve seen a pastor arrested in Sweden for preaching that homosexuality is contrary to biblical principles. When the alarm was sounded, some thought it was all hype. But when a church has to sacrifice its religious convictions in order to invite the public to use its facilities, the threat to liberty is not hype. Whenever a right is granted to same-sex unions, then a right is taken from religious liberty and freedom of speech. Same-sex unions pose a serious threat to freedom of conscience and free exercise of religion.”
Jeremy from Goodasyou exposes Staver's statment for the lie that it is:
FACT: The New Jersey pavilion was open to public usage, without any hesitation until gays and lesbians wanted to start using the building for same-sex civil unions. It's not a religious matter -- it's about allowing the heterosexual public to use your facility, but not the homosexual public.
FACT: Nobody is trying to force churches to marry ANYONE (straight or gay). But this building was not and is not a church, and folks like Mat Staver KNOW IT! They are exploiting the fact that the building had church ties, all the while overlooking that those church ties had never previously been used to bar straight couples.
FACT: The Swedish pastor that the right loves to use, Ake Green, was arrested (but later acquitted) because Sweden, unlike America, has strict hate speech laws. Plus, it was only after his words were published publicly that he caught scrutiny.
FACT: Nobody is proposing similar laws here in the states, regardless of what folks like Staver want folks to believe. In fact, gays and progressives are more commonly on the side of protecting unpopular speech. For an example, see how Barney Frank was one of only 3 members of Congress to vote against a law designed to restrict Westboro Baptist's funeral-picketing pastime.
FACT: As a movement, gays and progressive allies are seeking CIVIL MARRIAGE EQUALITY. The way "religious freedom" REALLY applies to this matter is in regards to how everyone's civil liberties should be protected from being stifled by others' faith-based beliefs!
Like clockwork, the religious right is telling lies about the yesterday's decision in New Jersey regarding the church owned pavilion and the lesbian couple who sued for access to it for their wedding.
Even before yesterday's decision, the religious right distorted the case to make it seem that lgbts are forcing Christians to "accept" gay marriage.
However the church lost the case because it was accepting tax breaks for the pavilion and a proviso for these tax breaks said that the pavilion to all with no exceptions
But of course Matt Staver and the Liberty Counsel spins the case to make it seem that lgbts are attempting to harm Christians:
“The clash between same-sex unions and religious freedom has arrived, and that clash will increase. We’ve seen a pastor arrested in Sweden for preaching that homosexuality is contrary to biblical principles. When the alarm was sounded, some thought it was all hype. But when a church has to sacrifice its religious convictions in order to invite the public to use its facilities, the threat to liberty is not hype. Whenever a right is granted to same-sex unions, then a right is taken from religious liberty and freedom of speech. Same-sex unions pose a serious threat to freedom of conscience and free exercise of religion.”
Jeremy from Goodasyou exposes Staver's statment for the lie that it is:
FACT: The New Jersey pavilion was open to public usage, without any hesitation until gays and lesbians wanted to start using the building for same-sex civil unions. It's not a religious matter -- it's about allowing the heterosexual public to use your facility, but not the homosexual public.
FACT: Nobody is trying to force churches to marry ANYONE (straight or gay). But this building was not and is not a church, and folks like Mat Staver KNOW IT! They are exploiting the fact that the building had church ties, all the while overlooking that those church ties had never previously been used to bar straight couples.
FACT: The Swedish pastor that the right loves to use, Ake Green, was arrested (but later acquitted) because Sweden, unlike America, has strict hate speech laws. Plus, it was only after his words were published publicly that he caught scrutiny.
FACT: Nobody is proposing similar laws here in the states, regardless of what folks like Staver want folks to believe. In fact, gays and progressives are more commonly on the side of protecting unpopular speech. For an example, see how Barney Frank was one of only 3 members of Congress to vote against a law designed to restrict Westboro Baptist's funeral-picketing pastime.
FACT: As a movement, gays and progressive allies are seeking CIVIL MARRIAGE EQUALITY. The way "religious freedom" REALLY applies to this matter is in regards to how everyone's civil liberties should be protected from being stifled by others' faith-based beliefs!
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